For certain construction projects, elongate members such as piles, anchor members, caissons, and mandrels for inserting wick drain material must be placed into and in some cases withdrawn from the earth. It is well-known that, in many cases, such rigid members may be driven into and withdrawn from the earth without prior excavation.
The present invention is particularly advantageous when employed to insert a mandrel carrying wick drain material into the earth, and that application will be described in detail herein. However, the present invention may have broader application to the insertion into and removal from the ground of other elongate members such as piles, anchor members, and caissons, especially when these members must be driven at an angle with respect to horizontal. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims appended hereto and not the following detailed description.
Because wick drain material is flexible, it cannot be directly driven into the earth. Instead, it is normally placed within a rigid mandrel that is driven into the earth. Once the mandrel and wick drain material have been driven into the earth, the mandrel alone is removed from the earth, leaving the wick drain material in place. The wick drain material that is left in place wicks moisture in its vicinity to the surface to stabilize the ground at that point.
Two basic systems are employed to drive mandrels into and remove mandrels from the earth. A first system is referred to as a top drive system and engages the upper end of the mandrel to insert the mandrel into the earth. In a top drive system, the upper end of the mandrel is securely attached to the drive system and forced downward or upward to insert the mandrel into or remove the mandrel from the ground. The upper end of the mandrel may also be vibrated by a vibratory drive means and/or crowded by a chain or cable drive means to cause the mandrel to penetrate the earth.
The primary disadvantage with the top drive system is that they require a substantial boom structure to support the mandrel and associated drive means. The requirement of a large and heavy boom structure limits the length of the mandrel that may be driven by a top drive system. Further, as the ground into which the wick drain material is to be inserted may be wet and unstable, the ground may not be sufficiently stable to support the required boom structure. Top drive systems thus may be inappropriate in certain situations.
A second system for inserting and removing mandrels engages the bottom end of the mandrel and will be referred to herein as a bottom drive system. A bottom drive system is not attached to any one point on the mandrel; instead, rotating roller surfaces and/or gear teeth engage the mandrel in a manner that displaces the mandrel along its axis to drive it into the ground. Bottom drive systems require a boom sufficient to support only the mandrel; the boom for a bottom drive system may thus be significantly lighter than that for a top drive system, which alleviates some of the problems associated with large booms.
However, the primary disadvantage with known bottom drive systems is that they rely entirely on the roller or gear drive system for insertion and removal of the mandrel. Bottom drive system do not have the benefit of a vibratory device for situations in which the mandrel becomes stuck due to soil conditions.